The European Union decides to intervene to enforce the principles of the Green Deal, the European pact that aims to achieve climate neutrality in Europe by 2050.
Public support for projects involving “fossil fuels, especially the most polluting ones such as oil, coal and lignite, is unlikely to be found compatible with state aid rules.” The European Commission explains this in its communication on the ongoing revision of EU state aid rules. The objective, explains Brussels, is to “guarantee the coherence” of the Antitrust policy with the principles of the Green Deal, such as that of the “polluter pays”.
To evaluate the approval of subsidies, reference will therefore also be made to the principle of “not causing significant damage” to the environment.
State aid for microchip companies
“In view of the exceptional situation” in the semiconductor sector, “their relevance and the dependence on supply of a limited number of companies in a difficult geopolitical context, the Commission may envisage the approval of subsidies to fill potential funding gaps” , in particular for the creation of unique European structures. The same EU executive announces it. The aid, the document reads, “would be subject to strong competition safeguards”. In an effort to push European alliances and champions in industry and also in the semiconductor sector, Brussels “will continue to support the states’ ongoing efforts” to elaborate “major pan-European projects of common European interest that jointly overcome market failures by enabling innovations. pioneering and infrastructure investments in key green and digital priorities, namely hydrogen, cloud, health and microelectronics ”.